Part 5: The Lavender Festival
One of my favorite things to do in Seattle in the summer actually takes place about two and a half hours away in a place called Sequim (say "Squim" despite whatever your brain may tell you about pronunciation.) The northern end of the Olympic peninsula is apparently an excellent climate in which to grow lavender (as is most of the pacific northwest given the large lavender plants in practically every other yard.)
Once a year Sequim holds a festival to promote all things lavender and it is a great way to spend a day. Lavender is great both in cleaning products and also in food, though sometimes people have a hard time getting the image of soap out of their minds when eating something made with lavender. Sometimes dishes made with lavender can taste a little astringent and the real art of cooking with lavender is balancing the flavours so that you taste what lavender smells like - like with coffee, the aroma is sweet and rich and not harsh at all. I'm still trying to master that subtlty and nuance. The lavender festival is great because it has two parts, a street fair with food and people selling stuff and also lavender farms where you can go pick your own bundles of different kinds of lavender and taste the various concoctions each farm creates for the festival.
Some of these delicacies are just that - delicate and lightly perfumed with lavender. Others are flights of fancy - mixtures of flavours or experiments created simply for the joy of playing with a fun and versatile herb. Some of the highlights: Lemon-lavender sorbet - refreshing with a crispness from both the lemon and the lavender, but with a slightly rounder flavour than simple lemon sorbet. Peach-lavender ice cream - despite being cold it has a warm and soft flavour, like the outside of a peach. Lavender mini donuts - they don't even really taste like lavender but rather smell intensely of it because they're hot and steaming. Lavender crepes - powdered sugar with powdered lavender turns into a tart, savory (but still sweet!) syrup inside a hot, fresh crepe. Some of the more peculiar items: Lavender-chocolate-orange ice cream - not quite sure where this one was trying to go, but too many flavours mixing in odd ways and one of those cases in which the whole thing ended up tasting a little soapy even though there wasn't much lavender in it. Lavender hot dogs - I was way too full with crepes and ice cream to try one of these but I'll try it next year. I suppose it shouldn't be that odd given that lavender is great in spice rubs on grilled meats but somehow it seems just a bit peculiar. Next year we shall see!
And then there's the peace of submerging yourself in the sights, smells, sounds of a blooming field of lavender, which can't really be done justice in words.
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